Gravity
by J. Maria
Summary: The five steps it takes to find and realize what love is for two of Serenity's crew members. PostSerenity. Done for stagesoflove on lj.
1. What My Eyes Beheld

**Title:** What My Eyes Beheld  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Attraction  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. He owns 'em  
**Pairing:** Jayne/River  
**Words:** 358  
**Summary:** River notices something she didn't expect.  
**Author's Notes:** set post _Serenity_, so spoilers for it.

_**What My Eyes Beheld**_

"_Is a girl. She's cute, too. 'Cept I don't think she's all there, you know? Course, not all of her has to be."_

River Tam's eyes snapped open. Jayne Cobb glared down at the pale skinned girl, his mind flooding hers with his thoughts. _Too skinny, too pale, ain't never seen the sunlight. Off-limits, _dong ma River blinked up at the man, confused at his thoughts.

"Didn't the captain say somethin' bout you not sleepin' on the catwalks no more, moonbrain?" Jayne snapped.

"Not sleeping. Contemplating each screw and bolt and how love keeps her flying," River replied, sticking her tongue out as if that made her point more solid.

_I liked it better when crazy was in her box,_ Jayne thought as he skirted past her.

"She was naked then," River murmured, watching his figure faded down the dark corridors.

She took notice of him, now that her mind was clearer and she could function like a girl. She watched him at the meals that seemed to smother them all. It was too quiet, had been since Miranda. Watched his reactions when Zoe announced she was pregnant, saw him smile and suggest Jayne as a name. Mal, Zoe, Inara, Simon and Kaylee were all scarred and fractured images of their former selves, dimmed by the tragedy she led them too. But Jayne was still Jayne, there was nothing to complicate him, make him harder.

She tiptoed past him onto the bridge, heard him hiss and felt him jerk away. But she felt his pull, gravity working it's will when they would not. Her eyes caught his in a brief moment, chilling her and heating her all at once. Blue to brown, victims of gravity and confinement.

_Too skinny, too small, fights like a devil, falls like a girl. Crazy, River, Weapon, Reader. Small. Ain't right, just unsettlin'._ His thoughts pounded at her, worse than Miranda because _he_ was thinking on _her_. "Please, God, make me a stone, " she whispered, her eyes steady on his. Jayne just glared and turned from her.

And despite her prayers, she could not tear her gaze away from his fading form.


	2. What's In a Name?

**Title:** What's In a Name?  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Romance  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. He owns 'em  
**Pairing:** Jayne/River  
**Words:** 296  
**Summary:** Little things that show he's there...  
**Author's Notes:** set post _Serenity_, so spoilers for it.

_**What's in a Name?**_

Captain Daddy calls her lil Albatross. Zoe, even after everything she has brought down on the first mate, still calls her little one. Kaylee and Simon stick with _mei-mei_, while Inara calls her sweetie. Nicknames derived of love and affection.

_He_ called her moonbrain, crazy, killer woman to her face. In his mind, they were worse, hurtful even, until Ariel and then Miranda. He doesn't call her anything anymore. Not since they were in the cockpit that day, certainly not since Miranda.

He barely speaks to her, and yet little things keep popping up in the cupboard on the bridge. Colored pencils, apples, even a knife. No bows or packaging, no card attached, and yet she knows they are for her. She's caught him once, when he gave her the knife.

"Why?"

"What're you goin' on about?" Jayne snapped, his back turned to her.

"The boy used to tease, but not anymore. She's a killer woman, and he won't even call her that to her face."

"I ain't a boy," he huffed trying to get past her to the weapons locker just below the cockpit. River smiled. _Not a boy, not a girl, then what is he?_

"No. Boys tease, call the girls names to show that they fancy them. Jayne's not a boy," she said quietly.

"We gonna fall on that Jayne's a girl subject again, River?" Jayne growled as he slammed the locker door shut.

"Boys tease, men leave trinkets and call their women by their proper names to show respect," River sighed, her voice shaking a bit as she spoke. He stiffened and she feared she'd said too much of the wrong thing again. So much uncertainty raced through her until he finally turned to face her. "And Jayne is definitely a man."


	3. Burn Throguh

**Title:** Burn Through  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Passion  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. He owns 'em  
**Pairing:** Jayne/River  
**Words:** 279  
**Summary:** He burns through her veins.  
**Author's Notes:** Post-_Serenity_, Oddly enough the inspiration for both this and my Jayne/Kaylee piece was the same song - What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts. Follows the last piece directly.

_**Burn Through**_

She didn't know how to handle him. Couldn't put him in an equation and make him work. Couldn't feel him out, made a promise - no touching guns. And yet she want to touch, feel, explore the living weapons that were them both. She blurred, blinked and could feel his corded muscles beneath her fingers.

"Already broke that promise, before Miranda." River's eyes blinked rapidly as she could feel every molecule of him drift over her and weigh her down. "He's a weapon, a gun and she shouldn't touch. She'll bruise and break and forget how to be."

"I ain't gonna touch you, River. Ain't gonna bruise or break you none," Jayne said roughly, his hands enveloping her shaking shoulders.

"Not her. She'll bruise you."

"You ain't nothing, just a little girl."

"Not so little," River dug her fingers into his shoulder, trying to balance herself. His senses overwhelmed her, pulling her in deeper. Images of her naked, bloody and in battle swamped her mind.

She pushed him back against the weapons locker. Jayne glared down at her, still trying to balance her. She whimpered against him, feeling his blood pound through his veins. She rolled her hips against his, trying to calm the rumble of emotions that flooded her.

"I'll just hurt you. I'm not delicate, but I'm not strong. I don't know -"

"Yer a mind readin' genius, and there's somethin' you don't know?" Jayne groaned, clenching his jaw.

"Never had to, never felt this." River whimpered. "Need to feel you, need to see you."

"River -"

"Nobility doesn't suit you. Don't want noble grapes. Want you." River hooked her leg around his knee, jerking him forward.


	4. The World Begins Anew

**Title:** The World Begins Anew  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Intimacy  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. He owns 'em  
**Pairing:** Jayne/River  
**Words:** 228  
**Summary:** How to deal with it all?  
**Author's Notes:** Post-_Serenity_. Blame Goo Goo Dolls for this title. Also, this was supposed to be up last Tuesday - but Kinkos obliterated my flash drive and all the stories and homework contained within (including the finished version of this and a Millicent/Percy piece). I paid to get my flash drive fried. Go figure.

_**The World Begins Anew**_

River felt herself falling heavily against him, her heart pounding as her fingers dug tightly into the flesh of his arm, her forehead pressed over his heart - beating much faster than before. Tears clung to her lashes as she tried to figure it out, tried to calm the constant drumming that pounded through her body, working it's way to her very core.

"Can't act like a girl, don't know the steps to this dance."

"A genius like yerself don't know these steps? Why'm I findin' that hard to believe?" Jayne chuckled lightly, but she could hear the tightness in his voice, felt his shoulders tense.

"Can't go back, can't make it not happen," River peered up into his eyes, trying to grasp what this meant to them both. "Don't know how to react. Can't put it in a box and make it go away. Why?"

Jayne frowned for a minute. Gone was the know-it-all psychic killer-woman, and he remembered she was just a kid again, only a few years out in the real world that ain't been gentle on none of 'em. Damned if he knew the answers to her questions. He hadn't ever been so good with words. So he said what he could.

"None of us know. Make it up as we go, I reckon."

"Teach me?" The question came tentatively.

"Reckon I could try."


	5. First Steps

**Title:** First Steps  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Commitment  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. He owns 'em  
**Pairing:** Jayne/River  
**Words:** 315  
**Summary:** First steps down a longer road.  
**Author's Notes:** Post-_Serenity_. Set roughly eight months after the last parts. On the verge of being baby!crack!fic.

_**First Steps**_

River bounced the smiling infant on her lap, watching as his little face burst into a thousand tiny giggles as she brought the dinosaur to his face for inspection. Little Hoban laughed, trying to pull it closer. Zoe, the Captain, and her Jayne were out on a run, and River could feel Simon's eyes on her, making sure she held the precious little boy just right. She let Hoban take the dinosaur as she began fiddling with the knobs and switches that would guide _Serenity_ heavenward again.

"_River, a grand entrance would not be amiss_," Mal's voice squawked through the comm.

"River, maybe you better let me take Hoban," Simon said, striding over to her.

"I can handle both," River's eyes locked firmly on her brother's, then glanced down at his own arms. "You're hands are filled with Gaia."

The smaller twin cooed at her, her bright eyes catching sight of the dinosaur Hoban chomped on.

"Kaylee, open up the hatch doors, and stay back!" River ordered over the comm.

"_I don't see anything - oh, I see 'em, River!" _Kaylee replied.

"Give Inara the babies and get to the infirmary," River said distractedly, kissing the top of Hoban's head.

Once they were clear of whatever trouble the captain had gotten themselves into this time, and River had pushed him into the pilot's chair before making her way down to the infirmary. Inara was holding Hoban while Simon patched Zoe up.

"Jayne?"

"Right here, little witch," Jayne said from behind her, his arms full of little Gaia. River smiled at the sight. Jayne just frowned at her. "What?"

"Mercenary turned protector of the weak," River murmured, kissing the hand that rested on Gaia's back. "A good daddy. . .one day."

"Just not too soon," Zoe said quietly, taking Gaia away from Jayne. "Simon and Mal are still trying to cope with you two getting hitched."


	6. What He Sees In Me

**Title:** What He Sees In Me  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Sight  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. River and Jayne are his.  
**Pairing:** Jayne Cobb/River Tam  
**Words:** 305  
**Summary:** It's what he sees in me that touches me the most.  
**Author's Notes:** Post-_Serenity_, and set in the _Gravity_ 'verse

_**What He Sees In Me**_

There are the things he's come to appreciate, images he clings to even in his sleep that haunt her dreams. Visions she knows she hasn't a right to, but they wash over her none the less. Before they'd been simple, images of her being naked or being crazy, mostly the latter. It had been common her first year on the boat, because most of the crew had held firmly to that image.

But now, other images cluttered in his mind, held tight for a rainy day. Today's image blurred with one of her flying with Zoe's children on her lap, her cuddling little Hoban and Gaia as they cooed up at her. Images of Mal and Simon's equally outraged faces that always set her to smiling, and him to laughing when he talked about future kids of their own.

And in his sleep, he clung to images of would-be children, dark haired mischief makers that were too smart for their own good. Beautiful would-be children who could handle themselves just as well as their mother and father. She smiled at the thought, just like he smiled at the thought of making said would be children.

For the first time in her life someone thought of her as a real person, not something to shape or use or fix. She was all that he needed her to be, and that was a damn sight better than she had been in a long time.

"_You're gonna be fine, just, you know don't think of it so much as a wedding as a landing you need to get right."_

River took a shaky breath as she made her way down the rocky path on Haven, comforted by the voice of her lost friends. Her eyes set firmly on Jayne, who waited for her at the end and beginning.


	7. Something You Said

**Title:** Something You Said  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Hearing  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. River and Jayne are his.  
**Pairing:** Jayne Cobb/River Tam  
**Words:** 284  
**Summary:** Say what?  
**Author's Notes:** Post-_Serenity_, and set in the _Gravity_ 'verse

_**Something You Said**_

He wasn't sure if he'd heard her right, so he asked her to repeat herself. Of course what he'd said mirrored what half of the crew had said - the exceptions of course being Zoe's children who only gurgled at them. She only laughed, a tinkling sound that always made him think he was goin' straight to the Special Hell for what he did with her.

By the looks of it, the crew reckoned he was headed there too. 'Specially the captain and the doc, both a who were glarin' holes in him. Kaylee laughed, clapped her hands happily and hugging on River. Zoe even smiled, and Inara just blinked.

"Say what?"  
"Jayne's - I don't think I can hear it again."

"You know, _this_ is - " Simon started to say again, until River chucked a roll at him.

"It is not what going mad feels like, you boob."

"River, honey, don't waste good food. Settin' a bad example for the little ones," Zoe said, trying harder not to smile as she took Hoban from River's arms.

"Well, it ain't like it's unexpected or nothin'. The two of 'em have been goin' at nearly as long as me an' Simon."

"Kaylee!" Simon sounded shocked that she would admit it.

"I can't know that."

"You two are the biggest prudes I ever met," Inara sighed.

"Honestly, they've been engaged longer than Simon and Kaylee, or me and Wash for that matter," Zoe let herself laugh.

"Married people have children, Simon. Jayne will be a good father." River smiled up at him. "He's very good at keeping things safe."

As for Jayne, he still couldn't believe his ears or the fact that River was pregnant.


	8. Velvet Touch

**Title:** Velvet Touch  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Touch  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. River and Jayne are his.  
**Pairing:** Jayne Cobb/River Tam  
**Words:** 279  
**Summary:** The feel of it all...  
**Author's Notes:** Post-_Serenity_, and set in the _Gravity_ 'verse

_**Velvet Touch**_

Her skin was so soft he could barely believe it. 'Course, Simon often reminded him that all Tams had delicate skin. He weren't too keen on testin' the doc's skin to prove it. Kaylee could have all that Core prettiness to herself.

Her skin didn't feel papery like everybody on the Rim's did after years a hard livin'. Course, she weren't nearly old 'nuff to be like them folks on the rim. Her skin pulled him in and made him like a kid with a new toy. She didn't seem to mind much when his rough, work-callused fingers touched her. She merely smiled up at him, with a look of trust in her eyes. His eyes, her mama's looks, and hopefully her uncle's brains.

She was so tiny, like her mama, and so delicate. In fact, there was barely any Cobb in the girl, 'cept for her eyes. He wondered if she would be a reader too.

River smiled tiredly at sight of her husband and their days-old daughter. Jayne only grinned, thinkin' on when he could touch his wife again and get to work on a baby brother or sister for little Skye Cobb.

"Need to heal first, Jayne," River said, playfully slapping him on the arm as she took Skye from him. "And my brains are good."

"Even if they're a bit crazy?" He grinned.

"Yes, Jayne. Even if they're a bit rattled. She'll have my personailty."

"And we'll all be doomed," Jayne said kissing the top of Skye's head.

"She'll keep us together, Gaia will keep us grounded, and Hoban will keep us flying," River whispered, kissing her daughter. "And my Jayne will keep me sane."


	9. Off Putting

**Title:** Off-Putting  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Smell  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. River and Jayne are his. I, however, own Hoban jr., Gaia, and Skye.  
**Pairing:** Jayne Cobb/River Tam  
**Words:** 286  
**Summary:** Something's not quite right  
**Author's Notes:** Post-_Serenity_, and set in the _Gravity_ 'verse - Zoe's twins are about two and a half, and Skye is about one.

_**Off Putting**_

He loved knowin' there was somethin' he was better at than her, it brought a smile to his well-worn face watching her youthful one scrunch up in confusion and frustration as she tried to get little Skye to eat. Hoban and Gaia wouldn't eat either. River only glared at him.

"Critters ain't gonna eat if you keep on makin' that face," Jayne laughed, which sent the three children laughing.

"It's healthy food, I just don't understand. Skye is never problematic about eating. She has _your_ appetite."

"Want me to try?"

"If she won't eat for me, she won't eat for you," River sniffed, but moved back for her husband to try.

Jayne hunched down into the chair River vacated, taking the wooden bowl and spoon in his big hands. Skye smiled up at her papa, her hands clapping. Then she caught sight of the spoon he held and she gave him a pained look, big crocodile tears forming in her eyes. Jayne frowned, lifted the bowl to his nose and took a deep breath. He jerked his head away and willed his eyes to not water.

"Simon cook this?"

"Yes, before he took breakfast to Kaylee," River frowned. "Why?"

"They won't eat 'cause it smells like crotch," Jayne muttered, taking away all three bowls of porridge. "Least that explains why Kaylee was sick. Boy needs to learn how to cook."

"How much crotch have you smelled, Jayne?" River asked, taking a sniff of the porridge before he dumped it out.

"What in the spincter of hell is that smell?" Mal demanded as he and Zoe made their way into the galley. "Kaylee loose her lunch in here too?"

"Nope, Doc made crotch-smelling porridge," Jayne chuckled.

"Again?"


	10. Concentration

**Title:** Concentration  
**Author:** Jmaria  
**Theme:** Taste  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss. River and Jayne are his. I, however, own Hoban jr., Gaia, and Skye.  
**Pairing:** Jayne Cobb/River Tam  
**Words:** 478  
**Summary:** I ain't breakin' yer concentration or nuthin', am I?  
**Author's Notes:** Post-_Serenity_, and set in the _Gravity_ 'verse and about fourteen years after _Off Putting_.

_**Concentration**_

Rough lips pressed to the nape of her neck, resting there for only a moment before creepin' up her skin. River shivered pleasurably, giggling as her husband kissed jus below her ear. They'd pulled off a job, and she knew he was eager to celebrate. Her fingers loosened their grip on the spoon in her hand.

"I ain't breakin' yer concentration or nuthin', am I?"

"My Jayne, I will never finish if you keep pesterin' me," River smirked when he gave a low chuckle at this. "And if I can't finish, we'll have to have _Simon_ finish cooking."

"Please don't distract Mama from cookin', Pop," A voice said, startling both of them. A dark haired girl of fifteen stood behind them, her young face smeared with grease as she gave her parents a pained look. Beside her, a red-haired teen just grinned at them, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her jumpsuit. "I don't think my poor innards can stand another dose of Uncle Simon's cookin'. Besides, I don't think I can stomach the two of you - yech."

"What're my pilots' doin' off the bridge? Who's flyin' this thing?" Mal demanded, strutting through the dining area.

"Ma's flyin', Uncle Mal," Gaia laughed, brushing her hair from her eyes. "Said somethin' bout bein' closer to Papa that way. On account of what today is."

The older crew members of _Serenity_ got quiet, knowing that today would have been Zoe and Wash's anniversary. A lot had happened in the last seventeen years. People had died, had been born, relationships formed and renewed. _Serenity _kept flying, with Wash's daughter learning to fly her, and his son keeping her in the sky. Simon still tried to poison them with his cooking, but he always patched them up again. Skye, River and Jayne's oldest daughter, had become a jack-of-all-trades, just like her mother. The younger children, the rest of the Cobb brood, the Tam kids, and even the Serra-Reynolds children were finding their niche on the cargo ship.

River glanced down at the simmering pot, the guilt and grief working it's way to her brain. She'd made his favorite meal without even thinking about it. Jayne just wrapped his arms around her tightly, washing his thoughts over her, pushing the pain away. Her fingers went back to stirring, almost mechanically. And none of the grown-ups noticed Zoe come in.

"Wife soup," River blurted, not waiting for the question that would have come from the First Mate.

"Really?" Zoe asked, taking the spoon from her hand.

"_Don't tell Zoe, but it probably tastes better than hers did,"_ a ghostly voice whispered.

"Tastes better than my last attempt," Zoe smiled.

"Well, when yer a genuis like her it's hard to screw up soup," Jayne chuckled.

"Jayne, I can still hurt you," Zoe walked over and put an arm around her daughter.

"_My girls."_


End file.
